Checklist for Safety Sensors in Garage Door

Safety sensors are important parts of automatic garage door openers. If you click on the garage door opener remote and it does not open or shut fully, there is a good chance that your sensors are blocked by some object in the path. You need to make sure that the sensor is working fine so that no damages happen to the opener, the garage door, or to the object in the way.

No matter how good your garage door sensors are, there will be failures over time. Safety sensors are located at the bottom corners of the garage door. There will be a sending unit on one side of the garage door, which transmits infrared signal to the other side having a receiving unit. Together, they form an intangible trip wire, invisible to people, and stop the motor in case of any obstruction. If there were any objects in the way of the garage door, the main light will flash several times and the door will reverse.

Nonetheless, if there were too many things in the garage, it could inhibit the signal transmission and receiving. It is common that the garage will be housing tools and other stuff in the corners, apart from having the tracks and rails there. Many of these things could result in the blockage of signals, so it is better to place all the stored items at least 6 inch away from the garage door.

Another common reason for sensor failure is due to the misalignment of the garage door safety sensors. This could occur due to a variety of reasons, such as when you accidentally hit a sensor while you take out the trash. If your garage is small, the chances are high for accidental knock on the safety sensors. Pets and children could also damage the sensors.

It is necessary to check whether the safety sensor is properly aligned on a regular basis. Each sensor is equipped with a small LED light; the sending unit always has a lit up LED whereas the receiving unit will only lit when there is no obstruction. Call in a garage door repair service for emergency garage door repair if you notice anything wrong with the sensor LED lights.

Another thing that could obstruct the sensor’s signal path is cobweb, which you don’t notice easily. These might not always block the signal, but can pose great danger if leaves or paper pieces get stuck on to the cobweb. So, it would be wise to keep your garage clean and cobweb-free to avoid such problems.